Form 10-300

(July 1969)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM

(Type all entries complete applicable sections)

Missouri

St. Louis City

FORNPS USE ONLY

ENTRV NUMBER

St. John Nepomuk Parish Historic DistrictANO/OR HISTORIC:

Boundaries as shown on Site Plan Map (see Item #7)CITY OR TOWN:

St. Louis

Missouri 63104 29 St. Louis City 510

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01

CATEGORY

(Cheek OneJ

JD District Q Building

O Site Q Structure

D Object

OWNERSHIP

D Public

Private

0 Both

'RESENT USE (Cheek One or More a Appropriate)

Public Acquisition:

Q In Process

O Being Considered

STATUSACCESSIBLE

TO THE PUBLIC

Occupied

Q Unoccupied

Preservation work

in progress

Yes:

QQ Restricted

D Unrestricted

D No

D Agricultural

[ ] Commvfcial

IXI Educational

O Entrtainm*nl

O Government

Q Industrial

D Military

D Museum

D Park

D Private Residence

H Religious

G Scientific

Q Transportation

Q Orher (Specify)

Q Comments

WNER'l NAME:

St. John Nepomuk ChurchSTREET AND NUMBER:

1625 South llth Street

St. Louis City Hall

Market StreetCITY OR TOWN

St. Louis Missouri 63104 29

TITLE OF SURVEY:

Missouri State Historical Survey1 OF SURVEY Q Federal____Q State Q County

State Historical Survey & Planning Office - Missouri State Park BoardSTREET AND NUMBER:

Box 176. 1204 Jefferson BuildingCITY OR TOWN:

Jefferson City Missouri 6S1O1 29

Congressional District #3 - Hon. Leonor K. Sullivan

CONDITION

G Excellent (39 Good Q

(Chuck On*)

Q Altered Qg Un

fCftec* One)

Folr G Deteriorated D Ruin*

altered

G Un.xpoitd

(Ch.ck On.J

G Movod Q] Original Sit*

The St. John'Nepomuk Parish Historic District is situated within the

City of St. Louis, Missouri. The District is bounded on the south

by the north line of Lafayette Avenue from the northeast corner of

Twelfth Street to the Parish property line east of the Second School.

The west boundary is formed by a line along the east side of Twelfth

Street from the northeast corner of Lafayette to the Parish property

line north of Beseda Hall. The north boundary is formed by a line

from the Parish property line on Twelfth Street east to the alley

between Eleventh and Twlefth streets, thence north to a point parallel

to the northwest corner of the Print Shop, thence east to the east

line of Eleventh Street. The east boundary is formed by a line along

the east side of Eleventh Street from a point opposite the Print Shop

to the southeast corner of Eleventh and Julia streets, thence along

the south line of Julia Street to the Parish property line, thence

south to Lafayette Avenue.

Seven structures comprise the St. John Nepomuk Parish Historic District,

including St. John Nepomuk Church (1870), the Church Rectory (1870),

the Old School (1869), the Print Shop (1844), the "Sisters' House"

(1848 and 1872), Beseda Hall (1892), and the Second School (1884).

These buildings, clustered in the vicinity of South Eleventh Street and

Lafayette Avenue, provided religious, educational, social, and re

creational facilities for St. Louis' nineteenth-century Bohemian

community.

St. John Nepomuk Church is a three aisle rectangular-plan building

constructed of brick in a Romanesque-Gothic style of architecture.

The Church, situated on the northwest corner of Eleventh Street and

Lafayette Avenue, facing east, is dominated by a central belfry

steeple high above the entrance, and a companion spire projects to a

lesser height from the intersection of the trancept-like roof at the

rear of the structure. The Church was almost totally destroyed by

a tornado in 1896, but was authentically reconstructed in subsequent

years. The east (primary) wall is the only original facade that

escaped the devastating cyclone. There have been no significant

alterations to the building since at least 1896. St. John Nepomuk

Church is constructed entirely of red hard-fired bricks upon a regular

ashlar foundation of cut limestone. The foundation terminates at

ground level on the west (rear) side but is nearly four feet in height

on the east side, to correspond with the slope of Lafayette Avenue

toward the Mississippi River. The primary (east) elevation with

towering steeple is divided into three bays, the central projected bay

being the more narrow of the three. Access to the vestibule is pro

vided by three arched doorways situated in the center of each bay.

The east (primary) facade is embellished with Gothic center-pointed

niches approximately seven feet in height located directly above the

doorways in each bay, and a crucifix embedded in the brick appears

above the niches on the end bays. Decorative brickwork frames the

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Fom 10-300o

(July m>

flVumbw all MMrfMj

7. n

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM

(Continuation Sheet)

STATE

Missouri

COUNTY

City of St. Louis

FOR NPS USE ONLY

ST. JOHN NEPOMUK PARISH HISTORIC DISTRICT

DATE

center-pointed Gothic doorways on the end bays, while a triangular

molding of brick and stone embellishes the central arched doorway in

the middle bay. A similar triangular molding appears over the niche

in the middle bay and minaret-capped towers occur at the corners of

the front facade. The top of the east elevation is crested by a

ballustrade-like structure embellished with miniature arched niches.

The underside of this ballustrade-like feature is corbeled.

The tower is divided into four equidimensional facades of three distinct

sections. A rose window appears in each side of the base, and the base

is separated from the upper portions by a brick molding. The central

section of the tower (belfry) is dominated on all faces by center-

pointed arched louvers, and the upper portions consist of tall,

narrow, roof-like planes which merge at their summit to form a spire.

The tower and minarets are trimmed in copper. The side (north and

south) elevations of the Church are similar to one another. Eight

rounded-arch stained-glass windows with limestone sills and wooden

tracery line both sides of the structure. The side elevations are

divided into eight bays, each of identical design and proportion, with

the exception of both west bays which are actually the gable-ends of

the trancept. The walls are buttressed at the bay divisions and

corbelling appears along the roofline of both elevations. The west

(rear) elevation consists primarily of rectangular apse of brick which

dominates the facade, but otherwise the west side is not embellished.

The St. John Nepomuk Rectory is a narrow, three-bay townhouse abutting

the Church to the north. Although scarcely twenty-five feet in width,

the three-story house is nearly 80 feet deep with interior rooms

arranged from front to rear along a corridor which occupies the north

bay. The Rectory is constructed of brick with a slate roof. A

decorated gable dormer with rounded-arch window projects from the

middle of the roof on the east elevation and three rounded-arch win

dows with keystone appear in the third story of that facade. First

and second story windows also utilize the keystone but are of segmental-

arch design. A recessed doorway occupies the northern bay of the

ground floor.

The Old School, which adjoins the Rectory to the north, is quite similar

in design to the Rectory except that the west (primary) elevation of

the School is approximately one-foot greater in height. Like the

Rectory, the Old School is topped by a slate roof with a central decor

ated gable dormer embellished with a crucifix and flanked by two pair

of minarets. Two triangular dormers are equally spaced on either side

Form VO-SOOo UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

(July 19

F.rm 10-3000

(July 1)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

INVENTORY NOMINATION FORM

(Ccntinaatioa Sbtel)

Missouri

City of St. LouisFOR NPS USE ONLY

7. #3 ST. JOHN NEPOMUK PARISH HISTORIC DISTRICT

maintained throughout the structure, but the middle bay is projected,

the windows are paired In this bay, and a central pediment occurs. A

boxed cornice embellishes both street facades.

The "Sisters' House," abutting the Second School to the north, was built

in 1848 but purchased by St. John Nepomuk Parish in 1872 to serve as a

convent for nuns teaching in the Old School. The building is a square-

plan structure which fronts on Julia Street. The original structure

was two-stories in height, but a third story, including the mansard roof

and dormers on the third story of the primary (north) facade were added

by Father Hessoun to accommodate additio